Actors united by passion

Jayden Daniels and Cian Elyse White are onstage in Nga Puke. Photo / Aroha Awarau

Te Pou brings life to Maori theatre, writes Aroha Awarau

They're both Maori actors in their 20s who appear on top-rating television shows. But it's their passion for Maori theatre that has united Shortland Street star Jayden Daniels and 800 Words actress Cian Elyse White.

In her directorial debut, Rotorua-raised White (27) will be reviving the classic Maori play Nga Puke by John Broughton. Daniels (22) takes the lead role, alongside Esmee Meyers, as a World War II soldier who falls in love with a Pakeha nurse. The work, which was last performed professionally more than 20 years ago, gives White the opportunity to work with Daniels, a fellow Toi Whakaari drama school graduate.

"Jayden and I have a deep love for theatre," says White, who plays the role of surfer Hannah in TV show 800 Words. "It's the first thing that engaged us in the world of performance. We are now screen actors on successful shows. That exposure is giving us the leverage to talk about our passion for Maori theatre."

Daniels, who plays Shortland Street 's bad boy Curtis Hannah, was 14 and growing up in Wellington when he saw his first play, Whero's New Net by Maori playwright Albert Belz. It starred Daniel's Shortland Street co-star and on-screen father Jarrod Rawiri.

"It stuck in my mind, because there were some actors in the play who also had roles on television. I had always wanted to be a screen actor and seeing Whero's New Net opened my eyes, showing me that an actor could be on TV and also do theatre."

For White, the play that inspired her as a teenager was The Prophet by Hone Kouka. "The stage was full of Maori actors, who were very witty and engaging. I felt so proud. I saw Maori being clever on stage, smashing it in a different world and that was awesome."

White, who has also written a play called Te Puhi about the first Maori Miss New Zealand, has been so passionate about promoting Maori work that she's part of a dedicated team that established Te Pou, a theatre in Auckland's New Lynn that fosters and produces work primarily by Maori practitioners. Since its opening in April, it has been intent on reviving classic Maori plays. The first was Have Car Will Travel by Mitch Tawhi Thomas, which White produced in May, and the second Nga Puke.

"In Maoridom, before we can move forward, you have to go back and pay homage to what's been before," White explains. "It's like dusting off our precious jewels and saying look at this beautiful work that we have in our whakapapa [history]."

This is Daniels' first major theatre role since he graduated from drama school last year. He's so committed to being in Nga Puke that he's juggling the play's busy rehearsal schedule with his full-time gig on TV.

"I used to go and watch plays and see a lot of my mates on stage and think, 'Man, I wish that was me'," he says. "I love the liveliness of theatre and being in front of an audience. Theatre is like my beating heart."

The classic love story of a Maori boy meeting a Pakeha girl and falling in love during the war is what attracted White to Nga Puke. She says it's a play audiences can connect to. It's a story similar to how my nanny and my koro met. They are both from Ngati Kahangungu in Hawkes Bay, the same area where this play is set. The story is beautiful and tender and I really wanted to be a part of that."

What: Nga Puke
Where and when: Te Pou, 44a Portage Rd, New Lynn, December 10-12